Seau memorial paddle-out

The mourning family of Junior Seau continued to hold vigil at his Oceanside beachfront home Friday and were finalizing how to best memorialize the football icon.

Seau’s sister, Annette Seau-So’oto, said the family has been overwhelmed by the thousands of people who have come by the house to leave flowers and mementos since Wednesday, when her brother took his life inside the home.

She said nothing has been decided about an upcoming memorial service, or whether Seau’s brain would be donated for research on head trauma.

Her comments come after former longtime Chargers chaplain Shawn Mitchell, who has been in contact with family members, said late Thursday that the decision had been made to have Seau’s brain examined for signs of damage potentially suffered during his football career. The linebacker played 20 years in the NFL, including 13 seasons with the Chargers.

ESPN, quoting two unnamed sources, said that Bennet Omalu, co-founder of the Brain Injury Research Institute and the chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, assisted at Seau’s autopsy Thursday. A spokeswoman for the San Diego County medical examiner’s office would not confirm that.

The institute’s website says that Omalu was the first person to discover physical evidence linking football-related brain injury and dementia.

No new details have surfaced to give insight into why Seau, 43, committed suicide, which was the medical examiner’s official finding. A final report won’t be completed for several weeks.

In a 911 call released by Oceanside police Friday, Seau’s girlfriend is wracked with sobs and hyperventilating as she reports finding Seau on a bed with a gunshot wound to the chest Wednesday morning.

She tells the dispatcher that the gun is next to him and that he isn’t breathing.

She says she just returned from the gym. “I’ve been gone for an hour,” she tells the dispatcher.

Authorities were still working to verify the gun’s ownership, said Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Mata.

Paul Paopao, assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel Living Hope in Oceanside and a friend of the Seaus, said Friday that the family’s focus is on planning the funeral.

“The discussion is about how to lay him in peace,” said Paopao, who grew up with Seau.

A memorial paddle-out for surfers is set for noon Sunday in front of Seau’s house on the South Strand, north of Wisconsin Avenue.

The house has been a gathering spot for Seau’s family, friends and fans since Wednesday.

All four of Seau’s children posed Friday for a photo in front of the flowers, balloons and mementos left outside the home to honor their father.

Seau’s sister said, “God is giving us the strength to hold on.”

As part of the makeshift memorial at the house, a black guest book titled “No bad days” was placed Thursday afternoon on top of a folding chair. It quickly filled with hundreds of heartfelt tributes.

“You were the Superman of San Diego,” read one. A Marine who said he was a fellow linebacker wrote, “Rest in peace brother. Blue skies.”

One message was written in Samoan, an acknowledgment of the Seau family’s heritage.